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V,!- 


Some  Phases  of  Reading 

in  the 

Elementary  School 


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Reprinted  from  the  ser  ^ published  in  the  Educational  Journal 
by  R.  H.  Lane  under  the  title  "Some  Phases  of  Reading  in 
the  City  Schools." 


Los  Angeles  City  School  District 
Division  of  Educational  Research 

February,  1919 


Copyright  1919 
Walter  A.  Abbott 

Additional  copies  of  this  publication  may  be 
had  at  five  cents  per  copy  upon  application  to 
the  DivisoM  of  Educational  Research,  yoq  Security 
Building,' Los  Angeles,  California. 


LP 


1.     A   Test   In   Oral  Reading 

Because  the  Educational  Journal  Is  largely  a  principals'  magazine,  thin 
article  is  addressed  primarily  to  the  elementary  principal  who  desires  to 
attack  the  problem  of  reading  In  his  school.  As  far  as  possible,  the  writer 
wishes  to  put  this  into  the  form  -^f  a  friendly  talk  rather  than  In  the  form  of  a 
finished  essay,  so  that  while  we  Diay  lose  something  in  the  way  of  style,  we 
may.  perhaps,  gain  thereby  in  directness  and  simplicity. 

First  of  all.  T  should  impress  on  the  teachers  of  your  building  that  reading 
is  the  most  important  subject  with  which  we  have  to  deal  in  the  elementary 
school.  Unfortunately,  there  is  a  tendency  in  this  city,  as  well  as  elsewhere, 
to  measure  a  child's  progress,  if  not  actually  to  decide  upon  his  fitness  for 
promotion,  by  his  ability  in  arithmetic.  Now,  while  arithmetic  is  a  highly 
important  subject,  and  merits  our  best  attention,  It  is  altogether  conceivable 
that  men  and  women  may  get  along  successfully  in  life  with  only  a  modicum 
of  arithmetical  skill.  Indeed,  the  average  person  in  adult  li<'e  has  little  use 
for  anything  but  the  simple  fundamental  processes  of  addlt'on.  subtraction 
and  multiplication,  while  reading  functions  to  an  enormous  degree  in  the 
affairs  of  every  day  life,  not  only  in  conducting  the  affairs  of  the  working  day, 
but  in  the  right  employment  of  one's  leisure.  Hence,  the  position  of  so  many 
teachers  that  reading  as  a  subject,  is  of  relatively  little  Importance  beyond  th^ 
first  and  second  grades  is  hardly  a  tenable  one. 

In  the  next*  place,  I  should  point  out  to  the  teachers  that  reading  is  an 
extremely  complex  subject,  and  one  which  is  exceedingly  hard  to  teach.  Noth- 
ing is  easier  than  to  distribute  readers  to  a  class  and  to  call  upon  the  individual 
members  to  read  in  turn  with  an  occasional  criticism  by  the  teacher.  Such  a 
lesson  could  hardly  be  called  a  reading  lesson,  but  It  is  considered  so  in  unfor- 
tunately too  many  cases.  Again,  there  is  a  lack  of  clear  understanding  that 
reading  must  be  considered  both  from  the  standpoint  of  silent  reading  and  oral 
reading.  Many  teachers  regard  reading  as  synonymous  with  oral  reading, 
neglecting  entirely  the  wide  field  of  silent  reading.  In  the  elementary  school, 
it  is  indeed  necessary  to  devote  considerable  time  to  oral  recitations  in  read- 
ing, but  the  time  given  to  oral  reading  should  decrease  from  lower  grades  to 
higher  grades,  and  the  time  given  to  silent  reading  increased  from  grade  to 
grade  until  In  the  higher  grades  of  the  elementary  school  silent  reading  should 
receive  most  attention.  In  adult  life,  one's  oral  reading  demands  relatively  an 
insignificant  portion  of  our  time,  while  silent  reading  for  information  or  for 
pleasure  is  an  indispensable  part  of  dally  life. 

Then,  too,  reading  is  complex  in  that  the  attempt  to  analyze  a  reading 
situation  is  not  an  easy  task.  To  discover  why  a  child  fails  in  reading  and  to 
prescribe  an  adequate  remedy  calls  forth  the  best  skill  which  the  teacher 
possesses;  a  task  which  is  complicated  by  the  truth  that  there  i»  no  panacea 
for  poor  reading,  but  every  case,  in  a  very  real  sense,  must  be  judged  upon  its 
own  merits. 


The  first  step  in  studying  a  reading  situation  in  the  elementary  school  is 
to  divide  the  problem  in  as  many  phases  as  necessary  and  then  to  attack  each 
phase  in  a  systematic  and  deliberate  manner.  In  the  present  paper,  I  propose 
to  discuss  only  oral  reading,  leaving  a  consideration  of  silent  reading  to  a  later 
paper.  Obviously  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  find  out  what  sort  of  vocabulary 
children  in  the  lowest  grades  have  at  their  command.  If  the  State  Texts  (Free 
and  Treadwell  Primer,  First  and  Second  Readers)  have  been  followed  as  basal 
texts,  it  is  well  for  the  principal  to  examine  the  children  as  to  their  power  to 
recognize  at  sight  the  more  common  words  in  the  vocabularies  of  the  several 
books.  The  Primer  and  First  Reader  contain  word  lists  which  the  principal 
may  use,  or  the  same  words  may  be  found  upon  the  flash  cards  which  the 
publishers  of  the  series  have  for  sale.  In  case  some  other  series  of  readers 
have  been  used  for  basal  readers,  the  word  lists  will  be  found  either  in  the 
books  themselves  or  in  the  manuals  with  which  the  publishers  accompany 
their  readers. 

In  all  grades  from  the  low  second  to  the  high  eighth  (B2-A8),  inclusive, 
children  should  be  tested  on  that  very  obvious  accomplishment,  the  rate  of 
oral  reading.  All  other  things  being  equal,  a  child  who  can  read  unfamiliar 
material  suited  to  his  years  at  a  standard  rate  of  speed  is  a  better  reader  than 
the  child  who  just  stumbles  along.  We  have  worked  out  very  definite  stand- 
ards in  this  regard  and  the  principal  has  here  at  his  disposal  an  accurate  meas- 
uring rod.  In  my  own  work,  I  use  what  !.•<  known  as  Starch's  Reading 
Test,  Form  A.  This  consists  of  eight  selections,  one  for  each  grade,  which 
the  children  are  asked  to  read  orally.  These  selections  have  been  carefully 
selected  from  a  well  known  series  of  reading  texts  and  are  admirably  adjusted 
to  the  power.s  of  normal  children.  For  the  sake  of  making  this  clear  the 
first  few  lines  of  each  selection  is  reproduced  herewith. 

1. 

Once  there  was  a  little  girl  who  lived  with  her  mother. 
They  were  very  poor. 
Sometimes  they  had  no  supper. 
Then  they  went  to  bed  hungry.  Etc. 

2. 

Betty  lived  in  the  South  long,  long  ago.  She  was  only  ten  years  old,  but 
she  liked  to  help  her  mother. 

She  had  learned  to  do  many  things.     She  could  knit  and  sew  and  spin;  . 
but  best  of  all  she  liked  to  cook.     Etc. 


Little  Abe  hurried  home  as  fast  as  his  feet  could  carry  him.  Perhaps  if  he 
had  worn  stockings  and  shoes  like  yours  he  could  have  ran  faster.  But 
instead,  he  wore  deerskin  leggins  and  clumsy  moccasins  of  bearskin  which  his 
mother  had  made  for  him.    Etc. 

4. 

The  red  siiuirrel  usually  waked  me  in  the  dawn,  running  over  the  roof  and 
up  and  down  the  sides  of  the  house  as  if  sent  out  of  the  woods  for  this  very 
purpose. 


In  the  course  of  the  winter  I  threw  out  half  a  bushel  of  ears  of  sweet  corn 
unto  the  snow  crust  by  my  door  and  was  amused  by  watching  the  antics  of  the 
various  animals  which   were   baited   by  it.     Etc. 

5. 

Once  upon  a  time,  there  was  a  very  rich  man,  and  a  king  besides,  whose 

name  was  Midas;  and  he  had  a  little  daughter,  whom  nobody  but  myself  ever 

heard  of,  and  whose  name  I  either  never  knew  or  have  entirely  forgotten.     So, 

because  T  love  odd  names  for  little  girls.  T  choose  to  call  her  Marygold.     Etc. 

6. 

In  a  secluded  and  mountainous  part  of  Styria  there  was  in  old  times  a 
valley  of  the  most  surprising  and  luxuriant  fertility  It  was  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  steep  and  rocky  mountains,  rising  into  peak.s  which  were  always  cov- 
ered with  snow,  and  from  which  a  number  of  torrents  descended  in  constant 
cataracts.    Etc. 

7. 

Captain  John  Hull  was  the  mint-master  of  Massachusetts,  and  coined  all 
the  money  that  was  made  there.  This  was  a  new  line  of  business,  for  in  the 
earlier  days  of  the  colony  the  current  coinage  consisted  of  gold  and  silver 
money  of  England,  Portugal  and  Spain.  These  coins  being  scarce,  the  people 
were  often  forced  to  barter  their  commodities  instead  of  selling  them.     Etc. 

8. 

The  years  went  on,  and  Ernest  ceased  to  be  a  boy  He  had  grown  to  be  a 
young  man  now.  He  attracted  little  notice  from  the  other  inhabitants  of  the 
valley;  for  they  saw  nothing  remarkable  in  his  way  of  life,  save  that,  when  the 
labor  of  the  day  was  over  he  still  loved  to  go  apart  and  gaze  and  meditate 
upon  the  Great  Stone  Face.     Etc. 

In  giving  this  test  (which  can  be  procured  in  printed  sheets),  the  principal 
should  provide  himself  with  two  copies  of  each  sheet,  mounted  for  better 
preservation  on  cardboard,  and  should  carefully  annotate  his  own  copy  so  as  to 
show  the  cumulative  number  of  words  line  by  line  as  follows: 

Betty  lived  in  the  South  long,  long  ago. 
8     She  was  only  ten  years  old,  but  she  liked  to 
18     help  her  mother. 

21     She  had  learned  to  do  many  things.     She 
29    could  knit  and  sew  and  spin;  but  best  of  all  she.    Etc. 

If  time  permits  the  children  of  each  grade,  B2-A8,  should  be  taken  in 
groups  not  to  exceed  five  pupils  as  a  time,  and  each  pupil  should  be  asked  to 
read  the  appropriate  selection  for  exactly  one  minute,  no  more  and  no  less,  the 
examiner  carefully  noting  by  the  second  hand  of  his  watch  the  lapse  of  time. 
By  referring  to  the  annotated  sheet  in  the  examiner's  hand,  he  can  tell  at  a 
glance  the  number  of  words  read  per  minute.  The  selections  should  be  chosen 
as  follows: 

B2  pupils  should  be  asked  to  read  from  Sheet  1. 

A2  and  B3  pupils  from  Sheet  2. 


A3  and  B4  pupils  from  Sheet  3. 


^ 


3 


A4  and  B5  pupils  from  Sheet  4, 
A5  and  B6  pupils  from  Sheet  5. 
A6  and  B7  pupils  from  Sheet  6. 
A7  and  B8  pupils  from  Sheet  7. 
A8  pupils  from  Sheet  8. 

As  each  child  reads,  the  number  of  words  read  per  minute  should  be  care- 
fully recorded,  together  with  such  observations  on  each  case  as  the  principal 
may  care  to  make.  When  an  entire  class  has  read,  the  names  should  be  ar- 
ranged in  order  from  the  best  reader  to  the  slowest,  as  follows: 


B3  Class  1.     John 125 

2.     Mary   123 

?,.     Hattie    104 

4.     Martha  96 

and  so  on  down  to 

35.  Herbert  ...  33 

36.  Sam    31 

The  score  of  the  middle  reader  in  the  group  will  be  the  median  score  for 
the  class,  if  there  is  an  odd  number  of  pupils,  or  halfway  between  the  two 
middle  scores  if  an  even  number.  At  the  bottom  of  the  sheet  the  examiner 
should  make  the  following  note,  assuming  that  these  figures  are  found  on  his 
score  sheet: 

Slowest  Reader.     Median  Reader.     Fastest  Reader. 

My  School 31  96  125 

Standard    85  110  135 

For  this  purpose  the  principal  will  need  to  have  for  ready  reference  a 
table  showing  the  rates  of  oral  reading.  Last  year  we  worked  out  with  nearly 
a  thousand  pupils  the  rates  of  oral  reading  in  the  city  schools  and  these  are 
given  below: 

Oral  Reading  Rates 
(Words  per  minute.) 
Minimum.  Median.  Maximum. 

75 100 125 

80 105 130 

85 110 ....135 

90 115 140 

95 120 145 

105 130 155 


Class. 
B2 

A2 
B3 
A3 
B4 
A4 
B5 
A5 
B6 
A6 
B7 
A7 
B8 
AS 


.115. 
.125. 
.135. 
.140. 
.145. 
.150. 
.155. 
.160. 


.140. 
.150. 
.160. 
.165. 
.170. 
.175. 
,180. 
.185. 


.165 

.175 
.  185 
.190 
.195 
.200 
.205 
.210 


1 


This  simply  means  tluil  we  desire  all  AT)  pupils  for  example  to  read  orally 
between  12!^>  and  17".  words  per  minute  at  the  beginning  of  the  term's  work. 
(At  the  end  oi"  the  term  this  table  should  be  advanced  an  entire  point  through- 
out.) We  desire  such  pupils  to  read  about  ir.O  words  per  minute,  if  poasible, 
but  they  may  not  read  less  than  12r(  words  nor  more  than  ITH  words  per  minute. 
Ir'  a  child  fails  in  this  class  to  read  that  lower  limit,  he  should  take  reading 
in  a  lower  class  than  his  own  as  he  is  obviously  poorly  graded  with  respect  to 
reading.  If  a  child  reads  faster  than  the  maximum  limit  for  liis  class,  one  of 
two  things  is  true— either  he  reads  so  fast  as  to  be  unintelligible,  and  should 
be  required  to  slacken  his  rate,  or  he  is  too  good  a  reader  for  his  grade  and 
should  be  given  an  opportunity  to  read  with  an  advanced  class. 

When  the  principal  has  completed  his  tests  he  will  find  it  greatly  to  his 
advantage  to  construct  a  simple  graph  showing  the  standard  limits  for  oral 
reading,  and  to  superimpose  upon  this  the  achievements  of  his  own  school 
grade  by  grade.  He  will  then  be  able  to  see  at  once  the  strong  and  weak 
places  among  his  classes  with  respect  to  oral  reading  rates. 

It  has  been  objected  that  this  test  does  not  really  measure  reading,  but 
only  the  ability  to  call  words.  This  objection  is  not  valid,  as  it  rests  upon 
the  supposition  that  one  can  measure  reading  in  one  operation.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  no  one  test  has  ever  been  devised  nor  ever  will  be  devised  that  will 
measure  all  phases  of  oral  reading.  The  field  is  so  complex  that  we  are  com- 
pelled to  divide  it  into  sections  and  measure  a  relatively  small  part  at  one 
time.  Word-calling  is  such  a  part  and  a  legitimate  part  as  it  refers  to  the 
vocabulary  which  a  child  has  at  his  disposal.  The  first  step  in  the  acqyisition 
of  any  language  whether  our  own  or  a  foreign  tongue,  is  the  possession  of  an 
adequate  vocabulary  of  sight  words,  together  with  the  possession  of  enough 
phonic  power  to  handle  successfully  unfamiliar  words.  The  above  test  does 
measure  a  child's  vocabulary,  as  his  reading  rate  depends  absolutely  upon  his 
recognitipn  of  the  words  in  the  selections  read.  The  test  is,  however,  only 
one  of  many  which  must  be  made  in  order  to  properly  evaluate  a  pupil's  abil- 
ity in  reading  ,but  it  is  the  first  step  and  a  valuable  one  if  considered  properly 
with  regard  to  its  limitations.  After  the  test  has  been  given  the  principal  has 
a  definite  amount  of  information  regarding  one  phase  of  the  pupil's  power  to 
read. 

How  to  interpret  these  results  and  how  to  prescribe  remedies  for  the  defi- 
ciencies found   will   be  taken  uii  in   the  next    section. 

2.     Interpreting  the  Oral   Reading  Test. 

The  method  of  administering  Starch's  oral  reading  test  has  been  de- 
scribed, and  we  may  assume  that  the  principal  is  now  ready  to  tab- 
ulate, graph  and  interpret  his  results.  The  first  step  i»  to  arrange  the  returns 
in  a  table  showing  the  median  achievement  of  each  class  compared  with  the 
standards  stated,  somewhat  like  the  following.  For  the  sake  of  clearness  we 
will  assume  thai  these  figures  represent  the  standing  of  an  imaginary  school 
which  we  will  call  the  Horace  Mann  School.  The  figures  are  not  direct 
transcripts  from  the  records  of  any  Los  Angeles  City  School,  but  are  com- 
bined from  several  records  and  it   is  ))elievod  that   they   fairly   represent   con- 


ditions  in  many  of  our  buildings.     A  building  with  only  six  grades  is  chosen, 
as  many  of  our  buildings  do  not  have  the  upper  classes. 

Table  One — Median  Rates  in  Oral  Reading: 

B2         A2         B3         A3         B4         A4         B5         A5         B6         A6 

Standard    100       105       110       115       120       130       140       150       160       165 

Horace  Mann 34         69         97       102       113       125      .137       153       181       165 

This  table  will  be  much  more  easily  grasped  if  it  is  expressed  in  the  form 
of  a  graph  which  is  reproduced  herewith.  You  will  observe  that  the  horizontal 
lines  represent  the  successive  rates  of  oral  reading,  and  the  vertical  lines 
the  successive  classes.  The  heavy  lines  represent  ihe  upper  and  lower  limits  of 
desirable  reading,  and  the  middle  dotted  line  the  desired  median  in  each 
case.  The  fourth  line  represents  the  median  achievement  of  the  Horace 
Mann  School,  class  by  class. 

You  will  notice  at  once  that  the  chief  problem  in  the  rapidity  of  oral 
reading  of  this  school  lies  in  the  lower  grades.  The  B2  and  A2  classes  not 
only  fail  to  reach  the  median,  but  fail  to  reach  even  the  lower  limits  of  desir- 
able oral  reading  rates.  From  the  B3  to  the  A6  classes  there  is  a  steady  im- 
provement, the  B3,  A3  and  B4  classes  being  a  little  slow,  while  the  succeeding 
classes  approximate  or  exceed  the  standard.  The  B6  class  almost  touches  the 
upper  limit  of  oral  reading  rates. 

Let  us  consider  somewhat  in  detail  the  failure  of  the  second  grade  classes 
to  measure  up  to  the  desired  pitch  of  efficiency.  It  may  well  occur  to  the  prin- 
cipal of  the  Horace  Mann  School  that  the  standards  set  are  too  high,  and  that 
they  are  not  easily  reached  by  normal  children.  To  clear  this  matter  some- 
what, we  will  give  a  direct  transcript  from  the  record  sheet  of  a  B2  class  in 
one  of  the  city  schools,  a  school  which  in  the  opinion  of  its  principal  and  teach- 
ers is  not  an  exceptional  school,  considered  with  reference  to  the  social  status 
of  the  pupils,  but  a  good  all-round  school  of  middle-class  American  children. 

Table  Two — Oral  Reading  Rates,  Five  Highest  Pupils  B2  Class,  School  "A": 
Name.  Words  per  minute.       Name.  Words  per  minute. 

1.  Annie 148  4.     Nathan  104 

2.  Eloise   131  5.    Katherlne    92 

3.  Dolores   119  Median  for  the  15  highest  pupils,  87. 

Let  us  add  to  this  the  record  of  five  A2  children  in  another  city  school: 

Table  Three — Oral  Reading  Rates,  Five  Highest  Pupils,  A2  Class,  School  "B": 
Name.  Words  per  minute.        Name.  Words  per  minute. 

1.  Marjorie  156  4.     Wallace 107 

2.  Helen 156  5.    Gerald 120 

3.  Robert 116  Median  for  the  10  highest  pupils,  102. 

From  a  study  of  the  above  tables  it  will  appear  that  the  standards  set  for 
the  several  classes  are  not  unreasonable,  nor  above  the  ability  of  normal  chil- 
dren. Let  us  examine,  then,  the  class  record  sheets  of  the  Horace  Mann 
pupils  in  the  B2  and  A2  classes.  We  will  take  the  records  of  the  five  best  pu- 
pils in  each  class  and  arrange  them  in  tabular  form. 

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Table  Four — Oral  Reading  Rates,  Five  Highest  Pupils,  B2  Pupils,  Horace 
Mann  School: 

Name.                        Words  per  minute.  Name.                        Words  per  minute. 

1.  John    73  4.    Robert    48 

2.  Mary   69  5.    Helen   45 

3.  James  51 

Table  Five — Oral  Reading  Rates,  Five  Highest  Pupils,  A2  Pupils  Horace 
Mann  School: 

Name.                        Words  per  minute.  Name.                        Words  per  minute. 

1.  Cynthia    98  4.    Gerald  70 

2.  Eva    87  5.    Jerome  69 

■6.     Martha   73 

It  will  be  seen  that  not  one  of  the  five  highest  B2  pupils  recorded  reached 
the  lower  limit  on  our  graph,  and  three  of  the  five  A2  pupils  failed  to  reach 
that  limit.     How  shall  we  account  for  this  condition? 

Suppose  that  the  adult  reader  of  these  lines  takes  an  easy  second  reader, 
selects  a  simple  story  and  reads  slowly  and  deliberately  for  exactly  one  min- 
ute, then  counts  the  number  of  words  read.  While  we  must  allow  somewhat 
for  the  personal  equation,  the  average  achievement  of  the  adult  reader  will  be 
between  130  and  160  words.  Why,  then,  does  a  child  going  over  material 
which  we  assume  is  fitted  to  his  years,  make  the  poor  showing  displayed  in 
Tables  Three  and  Four  above?  While  this  question  may  be  answered  in  al- 
most an  infinite  number  of  ways,  there  is  one  answer  which  will  suggest  itself 
at  once  to  the  thoughtful  reader — with  the  adult  reader  the  recognition  of 
words  in  the  selection  is  immediate;  with  the  child  it  is  not  immediate,  and 
the  difference  in  time  between  adult  and  childish  recognition  of  the  words  in 
the  selection  is  the  major  difference  between  good  reading  and  poor  reading. 

We  have  now  narrowed  our  problem  down  to  a  question  of  vocabulary.  The 
adult  reader  has  a  large  slock  oi  sight  words  which  he  is  able  to  recognize  im- 
mediately; the  Horace  Mann  child  in  the  second  grade  has  so  small  a  vocabu- 
lary that  his  equipment  is  entirely  inadequate  to  cope  with  any  reading  situa- 
tion which  confronts  him.  The  principal  of  the  Horace  Mann  School  may 
well  pause  and  inquire  into  the  causes  of  the  impoverished  condition  of  the 
reading  vocabularies  of  his  second  grade  pupils,  and,  to  a  less  degree,  of  his 
third  grade  pupils: 

We  shall  never  run  this  matter  down  to  its  conclusion  unless  we  break 
it  up  into  several  factors  and  exhaust  the  possibilities  of  each  in  turn.  Let  us 
consider  the  following  as  possible  factors  in  a  situation  which  is  admittedly 
very  complex: 

1.  What  kind  of  teaching  Is  done  in  the  first  three  grades  of  the  Horace 
IMann  School?  May  we  safely  blame  the  poor  showing  above  upon  poor 
teaching? 

This  Is  a  question  for  the  Horace  Mann  principal  alone  to  answer,  but  he 
will  do  well  to  refrain  from  forming  a  too  hasty  conclusion  on  the  matter.  Oc- 
casionally, poor  teaching  will  explain  a  situation  of  this  kind,  but  in  the  experi- 

8 


euce  of  the  writer  poor  teaching — not  misdirected  or  ineffectual  teaching,  but 
out-and-out  miserable  technique — is  rare  in  a  city  school  system. 

2.  Granted  that  the  Horace  Mann  teachers  are,  in  the  main,  good  teachers 
in  the  technical  sense,  what  is  the  general  policy  of  the  school  with  regard  to 
reading?  Is  there  a  concerted  attack  by  all  teachers  together  with  the  prin- 
cipal upon  those  objectives  in  reading  which  experience  shows  are  desirable 
of  attainment?  Does  each  teacher  teach  reading  well  according  to  her  own 
views  as  to  what  constitutes  good  reading,  but  with  supreme  indifference  as  to 
her  neighbor's  views  on  the  subject?  Does  the  principal  by  wise  supervision 
attempt  to  correct  this  condition  or  does  he  allow  this  condition  to  persist  so 
long  as  the  several  teachers  claim  to  get  results  each  after  her  own  method? 

This  is  a  searching  question  and  in  the  answer  to  it  lies  the  solution  of 
the  reading  difficulties  not  only  of  Horace  Mann,  but  of  all  other  schools  find- 
ing tlAiselves  in  similar  circumstances.  1  shrewdly  suspect  that  Horace  Mann 
School  has  no  reading  policy  at  all.  The  principal  appears  to  have  adminis- 
tered his  school  wisely  and  well  as  far  as  administrative  details  go;  the  chil- 
dren are  orderly;  the  spirit  throughout  the  building  is  all  that  could  be  de- 
sired; the  program  of  the  school  moves  quickly  and  smoothly;  the  teachers 
are  happy  at  their  work,  and  there  is  an  atmosphere  of  industry  throughout 
the  building,  yard  and  shops.  But  the  principal  does  not  know  what  method 
of  teaching  reading  is  followed  by  his  first  grade  teachers,  except  in  a  most 
superficial  way,  and  the  B2  teacher  cannot  tell  me  how  the  Bl  teacher  is  at- 
tacking her  problems. 

3.  Let  us  continue  this  inquisition  a  little  farther. 

(a)  What  basal  method  is  being  used  in  the  lowest  grades?    A  synthetic 
method,  a  content  method  or  some  combination  of  the  two?    Does  the  principal 
know   the   difference   between   the   two    clearly    enough   to    decide   which   is 
best  for  his  school? 

(b)  Granted  that  the  Bl  teacher  has  a  defensible  method  of  teaching  be- 
ginning reading,  is  that  method  continued  consistently  throughout  the  three 
lower  grades  so  as  to  secure  a  reasonable  uniformity  with  respect  to  method? 
For  example,  does  the  Bl  teacher  teach  the  Gordon  method,  while  the  A I 
teacher  teaches  Progressive  Road? 

(c)  Is  there  a  reasonable  uniformity  with  respect  to  supplementary  read- 
ing? What  kind  of  supplementary  readers  are  found  in  the  three  lower  grades 
of  the  Horace  Mann  School?  Upon  what  basis  were  they  selected?  What  Is 
the  relative  difficulty  of  the  supplementary  Primer  selected  compared  with  the 
State  Series  Primer,  which  is  the  required  basal  reader?  How  many  words  are 
there  in  the  vocabulary  of  the  supplementary  Primer  selected?  Does  it  contain 
a  relatively  small  number — not  to  exceed  250  words — or  does  it  contain  400 
words  or  more?  What  supplemental  First  Reader  is  in  use  and  how  large  a 
vocabulary  does  it  contain? 

(d)  Are  phonics  taught?  Is  the  tearhcr  dennito;  proRrossi\  o  from  urado 
to  grade;  systematic;  or  is  the  teaching  of  phonics  an  incidental  affair?  What 
phonic  power  over  unfamiliar  words  do  the  pupils  possess  at  the  close  of  the 


first  year  of  school?     Is  phonics  made  an  aim  in  and  for  itself,  or  does  it 
grow  naturally  out  ol  the  daily  reading  lesson? 

(e)  How  large  a  vocabulary  does  the  B1  teacher  expect  her  pupils  to  have 
at  the  close  of  the  first  term  of  school?  Do  the  pupils  have  this  vocabulary  so 
well  in  hand  that  their  recognition  of  words  from  it  is  immediate?  How  often 
does  the  principal  check  this  item  up?  How  many  new  words  does  the  Al 
teacher  attempt  to  add  to  this  list  during  the  pupil's  second  term  in  school? 
The  B2  teacher?  The  A2  teacher?  The  B3  teacher?  The  A3  teacher?  Is  the 
growing  vocabulary  of  the  child  checked  al  fre(Hienl  inlervals?  Does  this 
vocabulary  contain  the  essential  words? 

We  do  not  expect  the  principal  of  the  Horace  Mann  School  to  be  able  to 
answer  all  these  questions  at  sight.  We  expect  that  it  will  take  him  some 
time  to  get  in  hand  so  complex  a  problem  as  that  presented  by  primary  reading 
in  most  elementary  schools.  We  do  feel,  however,  that  the  attempt  to  answer 
these  questions  thoughtfully  and  intelligently,  and  other  like  questions  which 
will  suggest  themselves,  will  be  a  long  step  toward  better  oral  reading. 

One  other  item  in  interpreting  results  deserves  attention.  By  referring  to 
our  graph  we  notice  that  the  B6  class  exceeds  the  standard  median  so  far  as 
to  nearly  touch  the  upper  limit  of  desirable  oral  reading  rates  for  that  class. 
Why  does  this  class  do  so  much  better  than  the  A6  class?  An  examination  of 
the  B(j  record  sheet  shows  that  this  class  contains  an  unusually  large  number 
ol  rapid  oral  readers.  Is  this  a  chance  occurrence?  (Any  experienced  prin- 
cipal will  testify  that  occasionally  a  single  class  will  seem  to  attract  all  the 
bright  particular  stars  ol  an  entire  school,  and  continue  from  kindergarten  to 
graduation  the  delight  of  their  teachers  and  a  source  of  envy  to  the  other 
classes  in  the  building.)  Or  has  this  B6  teacher  developed  a  technique  of  oral 
reading  which  is  superior  to  that  of  her  fellow  teachers?  These  questions 
must  be  seriously  considered  by  the  thoughtful  principal.  Let  me  beg  him, 
above  all  things,  to  investigate  such  a  situation  as  this,  and  not  to  dismiss  it 
with  an  off-hand  judgment  upon  the  matter.  Surely  the  cause  of  unusual  suc- 
cess as  well  merits  our  attention  as  the  cause  of  unusual  failure. 

3.     The  Problem  of  Variability 

.Our  system  of  grading  in  the  Elementary  Schools  rests  upon  two  assump- 
tions, neither  of  which  is  entirely  true:  first,  that  for  administrative  con- 
venience pupils  may  be  successfully  divided  into  instruction  groups  on  a  chron- 
ological basis,  and  second,  that  successive  groups  of  this  kind  represent  regu- 
larly increasing  mental  levels.  As  a  matter  of  fact  experienced  teachers  know 
that  classes  are  very  rarely  homogeneous^  groups,  but  are  made  up  of  indi- 
viduals varying  widely  from  each  other,  both  in  native  ability  and  educational 
achievement,  while  nearly  any  principal  can  select  A3  pupils,  for  example,  who 
are  brighter  and  capable  of  more  brilliant  mental  work,  not  only  relatively  but 
absolutely,  than  certain  A4  pupils  in  the  same  school.  Hence  we  have  set  up 
in  the  educational  organization  the  two  phenomena  which  we  term  (a)  Varia- 
bility, and  (b)  Overlapping. 

10 


(It  may  be  discouraging  to  the  busy  principal  to  read  that  he  cannot  get 
far  in  his  study  of  variability  without  possessing  a  fair  background  of  knowl- 
edge based  on  more  or  less  extensive  reading  of  certain  scientific  books,  but  this 
I  believe  to  be  almost  necessary  to  the  successful  handling  of  the  subject.  To 
those  who  have  made  little  or  no  study  along  this  line,  allow  me  to  recommend 
the  reading  of  the  following  books  in  the  exact  order  in  which  they  are  given: 

1.  Davenport — Domesticated  Animals  and  Plants. 

2.  Herbert — The  First  Principles  of  Heredity. 

3.  Thorndike — Mental  and  Social  Measurements. 

4.  Rugg— Statistical  Methods  Applied  to  Education.) 

Let  us  examine  the  record  sheet  of  oral  reading  rates  of  the  A4  class  in 
the  Horace  Mann  School.  For  the  sake  of  convenience  it  is  "reproduced  below 
in  full: 

Table  One — Oral  Rates  of  Reading — A4  Class  Horace  Mann  School 

Words  per  Words  per 

Name —  Minute  Name —  Minute 

1.  John  176  17.  Marian    119 

2.  Mary    172  18.  Arthur 113 

3.  Geraldine  163  19.  Wesley   108 

4.  Eva    156  20.  Eleanor    105 

5.  Jack 151  21.  Sadie  98 

6.  Herbert   ...151  22.  Jessie    95 

7.  Martha   146  23.  Henry   89 

8.  Edward   138  24.  Justin    87 

9.  Sam   136  25.  Robert 71 

10.  Leona    131  26.  Havelock    70 

11.  Genevieve    130  27.  Lucy 60 

12.  Elizabeth    128  28.  Webster  59 

13.  Horace    127  29.  Jeannette  52 

14.  William 127  30.  Nellie    47 

15.  Eddie    125  31.  Frances    41 

16.  Delbert   125 

Median,  125. 
Standard,  130 

All  examination  ol  this  record  at  once  suggests  some  interesting  prob- 
lems. Is  variation  of  this  kind  permissible,  or  should  the  teacher  strive  to 
"bring  up"  each  child  to  a  dead  level  (or  near  it)  of  achievement?  If  varia- 
tion is  to  be  allowed,  how  much  deviation  from  the  standard  of  the  class  as  a 
whole  is  to  be  allowed  in  individual  cases?  How  can  the  teacher  adjust  her 
work  to  satisfy  the  varying  needs  of  all  pupils  in  the  group? 

I..et  us  state  at  once  for  the  comfort  of  the  teacher  that  variation  is  to  be 
expected  in  all  cases,  accepted  and  planned  for.  Any  teacher  who  attempts 
to  "bring  up"  each  child  to  an  exact  standard  is  going  directly  in  the  face  of 

11 


all  the  scientific  knowledge  which  we  possess  regarding  the  existence  of 
variation  in  mental  traits.  All  pupils  are  "born  long"  in  some  subjects,  "born 
short"  in  others  and  can  labor  and  be  labored  with  successfully  only  insofar 
as  their  limitations  are  considered.  (The  overconscientious  teacher  is  re- 
ferred to  William  Hawley  Smith's  "All  the  Children  of  All  the  People"  for 
enlightenment  on  this  point.)  This  does  not  mean,  of  course,  that  the  median 
of  the  class  as  a  whole  should  not  conform  closely  to  the  standard  accepted 
for  all  classes  of  the  same  grade,  but  each  pupil  is  to  be  regarded  as  satisfac- 
tory whose  record  falls  anywhere  inside  the  generous  limits  which  we  have  set. 

By  referring  again  to  Table  One,  it  will  be  noticed  that  four  children  exceed 
the  upper  limit  set  for  satisfactory  oral  reading.  My  notes  show  that  John, 
Geraldine  and  Eva  are  truly  excellent  readers.  Their  recognition  of  words 
was  immediate,  their  phrasing  was  good,  and  their  expression  adequate,  not 
because  they  had  been  taught  "elocution",  but  because  they  enjoyed  the  sub- 
ject matter  and  unconsciously  expressed  their  appreciation  through  their  rendi- 
tion of  it.  Mary  was  not  a  good  oral  reader  because  she  read  so'  rapidly  as  to 
be  unintelligible,  due  to  the  fact  that  her  mental  grasp  of  the  selection  ex- 
ceeded her  power  to  properly  use  her  vocal  organs.  Articulation  drills  were 
suggested  as  a  remedy  in  her  case,  coupled  with  the  cultivation  of  a  lower 
rate  of  oral  reading. 

The  last  five  pupils  on  the  list  experienced  great  difficulty  in  reading  the 
assigned  selection.  One  had  a  marked  speech  defect,  one  was  abnormally 
nervous,  one  had  weak  eyes  and  consequent  defective  vision,  while  the  remain- 
ing two  pupils  were  victims  of  improper  grading.  I  enquired  of  the  children 
if  they  read  orally  every  day,  and  was  answered  in  the  affirmative.  I  en- 
quired further  if  all  members  of  the  class  read  the  same  material,  and  was  told 
that  at  the  reading  period  the  reading  books  were  passed  to  the  entire  class 
and  ach  member  read  orally  in  turn. 

It  must  be  apparent  to  the  most  superficial  observer  that  such  a  procedure 
is  indefensible  to  the  last  degree,  except  insofar  as  the  "average"  children  (i.  e., 
Sam  to  Arthur,  inclusive,)  are  concerned.  Frances,  Nellie  and  Jeannette  are 
daily  put  upon  the  rack  by  being  required  to  read  material  far  too  difficult  for 
them,  while  John,  Mary  and  Geraldine  are  penalized  by  listening  to  pupils  plod 
through  selections  which  they  themselves  grasp  instantly. 

Table  Two — A4  Class — Horace  Mann  School  Divided  Into  Speed  Groups 

I.     1.     John  ;i.     Genevieve 

2.     Mary  4.     Eva 

9.  Horace 

10.  William 

11.  Eddie 

12.  Delbert 

15.  Marian 
14.  Arthur 
in.  Wesley 

16.  Eleanor 

12 


II. 

1. 

Jack 

2. 

Herbert 

3. 

Martha 

4. 

Edward 

5. 

Sam 

6. 

Leona 

7. 

Genevieve 

8. 

Elizabeth 

III.     1.  Sadlfl  7.  Lucy 

2.  Jessie  S.  Webster 

.■?.  Henry  3  Jeanette  . 

4.  Justin  m.  NelUe 

5.  Robert  11.  Frances 

6.  Havelock 

This  grouping  has  one  serious  defect,  and  that  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
rapid  group  is  too  small  for  effective  work,  while  the  slow  group  is  too  large. 
This  may  automatically  be  avoided  by  dividing  classes  on  the  percentile  basis 
until  variability  is  somewhat  reduced.  This  simply  means  that  the  class  is 
divided  into  the  poorest  one-fourth  or  2^  percentile,  the  middle  one-half  or  50 
percentile,  and  the  best  one-fourth  or  75  percentile.  Arranged  on  this  basis 
the  final  grouping  of  our  A4  class  would  appear  thus: 

Group  I — "Express"  or  "Rapid"  Group — 

1.  .lohn  5.  Jack 

2.  Mary  6.  Herbert 

3.  Geraldine  7.  Martha 

4.  Eva  8.  Edward 

Tn  strictly  departmental  schools  these  eight  pupils  should  be  allowed  to 
lake  reading  with  the  B5  class,  or  possibly  farther  up.  wherever  they  will  be 
associated  with  children  of  equal  power  in  reading.  If  this  is  not  possible, 
this  group  should  have  their  reading  so  arranged  that  they  will  read  orally 
very  little,  and  silently  a  great  deal,  working  not  so  much  out  of  the  uniform 
readers  as  out  of  individual  assignments,  coming  together  occasionally  for  re- 
port and  discussion.  To  require  such  children  to  continue  daily  oral  reading 
is  to  continue  firing  at  game  that  has  long  since  been  brought  down. 

Group  II — "Regular"  or  "Average"  Group — 

1.  Sam  9.     Marian 

2.  Leona  10.    Arthur 
a.    Genevieve                                            11-    Wesley 
4.    Elizabeth                                                12.    Eleanor 
.''..    Horace                                                   13.     Sadie 

fi.    William  14.    Jessie 

7.  Eddie  1^.    Henry 

8.  Delbert 

This  group  should  be  handled  in  the  manner  called  for  by  any  group  of 
children  whose  abilities  are  similar  within  generous  limits.  This  group  would 
certainly  not  read  orally  every  day;  certain  lessons  would  be  assigned  for  in- 
tensive silent  study;  other  lessons  for  rapid  silent  reading;  other  lessons  would 
be  devoted  to  memorization  and  still  others  for  reading  to  the  class  by  the 
teacher. 

13 


Group  III— "Accommodation"  or  "Slow"  Group— 

1.  Justin  ■',.  Webster 

2.  Robert  fi.  .Teanette 

3.  Havelock  7.  Nellie 

4.  Lucy  8.  Frances 

This  group  would  receive  the  most  careful  study  upon  individual  needs 
that  the  teacher  could  make.  The  treatment  for  these  cases  cannot  be  suk 
gested  here  as  each  child  would  have  to  have  work  especially  devised  for  him. 
for  this  group  there  would  be  a  great  deal  of  oral  reading  in  easy  supplemen- 
tary texts,  possibly  easy  Third  Readers,  probably  easy  Second  Readers,  and 
in  one  or  two  cases  First  Readers  and  Primers.  Phonic  drills  should  be  abun- 
dant, carefully  graded  and  frequently  checked  for  results.  (Personally  I  think 
the  Gordon  Teachers'  Manual  is  a  tremendous  help  along  this  line.)  Vocabu- 
lary lists  should  be  checked  as  the  child  adds  to  his  stock  of  sight  words,  and 
exercises  should  be  developed  for  the  cultivation  of  "eye  sweep". 

One  word  in  conclusion.  The  busy  teacher  will  say  "This  plan  increases 
my  work  three  fold;  instead  of  one  reading  class  you  have  given  me  three." 
The  answer  is  that  each  group  will  not  recite  every  day.  As  the  teacher  de- 
velops her  silent  reading  plans  more  fully,  she  will  devise  plans  whereby  the 
time  of  the  two  groups  which  are  not  reciting  at  a  particular  time  may  be 
profitably  employed.  At  the  present  time  silent  reading  with  us  has  not  been 
developed  as  it  must  be  in  the  future. 

A — Overlapping 

The  problem  of  overlapping  is  one  that  more  intimately  concerns  thn 
principal,  in  the  administrative  sense,  than  it  concerns  the  class-room  teacher. 
It  may  be  true,  and  probably  is  true,  that  the  children  of  the  A3  class  differ 
very  widely  in  their  ability  to  read  orally,  but  if  the  best  A3  pupils  read  less 
readily  than  the  poorest  B4  pupils,  the  problem  remains  a  problem  solely  for 
the  A3  teacher  to  solve.  If,  however,  the  best  A3  pupils  read  as  well  as  many 
B4  pupils,  and  as  well  as  a  few  A4  pupils,  the  principal  has  placed  before  him 
for  settlement  an  administrative  problem  of  considerable  dlfRculty,  and  this 
spreading  over  of  ability  of  the  same  kind  through  several  successive  grades 
constitutes  what  we  know  as  overlapping.  Herein  we  have  material  evidence 
that  our  indi'^tment  against  the  futility  of  the  graded  system  was  well  founded. 
Just  so  far  as  the  graded  system  fails  to  automatically  select  in  successive 
groups,  pupils  of  increasingly  larger  ability,  just  so  far  the  whole  system  fails 
of  its  purpose. 

To  illustrate  this  tendency  in  detail,  I  present  a  table  showing  the  rec- 
ords of  564  elementarj'  school  children  who  read  orally  for  me  during  the 
spring  of  1917.     The  table  should  be  read  as  follows: 

Twelve  A3  pupils  read  orally  between  60  and  89  words  per  minute;  25  A3 
pupils  read  between  90  and  119  words  per  minute;  etc. 

14 


Oral  Reading  Rates,  January-March,  1917 
Words  Per  Minute 


60-89 

nn-iin 

120-149 

150-179 

180-209 

210x 

Total 

Mffliaii 

A3 

12 

25 

32 

18 

3 



90 

126 

B4 

12 

31 

29 

23 

1 

96 

126 

A4 

8 

Tf) 

29 

27 

8 

3 

90 

143 

B5 

1 

6 

36 

45 

13 

2 

103 

156 

A5 

2 

:? 

35 

37 

16 

93 

156 

B6 

3 

f> 

23 

32 

18 

10 

92 

164 

Total  38  86  184  182  59  15  564 

Let  me  emphasize  the  fact  that  this  is  an  actual  and  not  a  hypothetical 
record.  The  schools  which  these  children  attend  are  well  organized,  carefully 
administered  schools,  where  the  majority  of  the  pupils  come  from  good  Ameri- 
can homes,  and  where  retardation  due  to  the  presence  of  foreign-speaking 
children  is  at  a  minimum  As  might  he  expected,  columns  1  and  2  show  that 
slow  readers  are  found  in  all  the  grades  from  A3  to  A6,  the  number  of  such 
cases  decreasing  in  the  higher  grades,  while  columns  5  and  6  show  an  in- 
creasing number  of  rapid  readers  as  the  upper  grades  are  reached.  From 
the  administrative  standpoint  it  is  of  little  moment  that  three  BR  children 
could  not  read  orally  more  than  90  words  per  minute,  considering  that  they 
represent  only  one-half  of  one  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  tested,  but  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  individual  needs  of  these  three  children,  such  a  condition 
is  little  short  of  tragic.  How  were  these  children  allowed  to  read  in  the  sixth 
grade  without  learning  to  read  at  a  fair  rate  of  speed?  How  can  such  children 
study  lessons  in  content  subjects  like  geography  or  history  where  an  ability  to 
gather  thought  is  the  prerequisite  to  the  mastery  of  the  lesson?  How  can  such 
children  handle  a  thought  problem  in  arithmetic  if  they  must  consume  such  a 
disproportionate  part  of  the  assigned  time  to  the  mere  reading  of  the  subject 
matter? 

To  illustrate  more  definitely  how  slowly  these  children  read,  let  us  ex- 
amine a  typical  page  of  prose  from  a  standard  sixth  reader,  such  as,  for  ex- 
ample, page  140  of  the  Horace  Mann  Sixth  Reader,  (Longmans,  Green  &  Co.) 
This  page  contains  256  words.  By  referring  to  the  table  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  median  rate  for  the  92  B6  pupils  examined  was  164  words  per  minute. 
At  that  rate  a  child  could  read  page  140  in  1  minute  34  seconds,  or  to  put  the 
matter  in  a  different  way,  could  read  in  ten  minutes  6.41'  pages  of  equal  length. 

Assuming  that  the  three  children  referred  to,  read  at  the  rate  of  90 
words  per  minute  (which  was  greatly  in  excess  of  their  actual  rate,  as  one 
of  them  read  only  a  little  over  60  words  per  minute),  it  would  take  each  2 
minutes  50  seconds  to  read  page  140,  or  in  ten  minutes  each  could  read  only 
3.51  pages  of  equal  length.  If  one  could  safely  assume  that  the  abnormally 
slow  reader  is  the  better  reader,  in  the  sense  of  retaining  more  of  the  thought 
of  the  selection,  the  case  would  not  be  so  bad,  but  the  contrary  is  true,  as 

16 


shown  by  the  scientific  literature  on  the  subject.  In  other  words,  the  rapid 
reader  gathers  more  thought  than  the  slow  reader,  not  only  relatively,  but  ab- 
solutely, thus  placing  the  slow  reader  at  a  tremendous  disadvantage. 

But  it  is  to  columns  three  and  four  that  I  particularly  invite  the  reader's 
attention.  One  hundred  eighty-four  pupils  read  somewhere  between  120  and 
149  words  per  minute,  and  182  pupils  between  150  and  179  words  per  minute. 
Of  these  23  B6  pupils  and  35  A5  pupils  read  no  better  than  82  A3  pupils  or  29 
B4  pupils.  Of  these  18  A3  pupils  read  as  well  as  37  A5  pupils,  and  23  B4 
pupils  as  well  as  32  B6  pupils.  Apparently  the  graded  system  failed  again  to 
automatically  select  pupils  of  increasing  ability  in  successive  grades.  This, 
then,  is  precisely  what  we  mean  by  overlapping — a  spreading  out  over  several 
grades  of  pupils  equally  well  equipped  to  perform  a  given  task.  This  leads 
us  to  the  practical  problem  which  confronts  the  average  elementary  school 
principal:   How  shall  overlapping  be  overcome? 

In  the  first  place,  by  overcoming  variability  in  the  several  class  rooms  by 
the  adoption  of  some  such  group-method  as  was  advanced  in  the  last  paper. 
In  the  second  place,  by  exercising  such  care  over  the  promotion  of  pupils  as 
to  forbid  promotion  to  those  pupils  who  are  obviously  unfit  to  advance  with 
their  fellows,  and  by  providing  individual  help  for  such  cases.  In  the  third 
place,  by  making  a  careful  examination  of  the  reading  ability  of  each  child 
in  the  upper  grades  to  insure  that  no  child  remains  a  poor  reader  after  the 
facts  in  his  case  are  discovered. 

The  average  teacher  is  obsessed  by  the  idea  that  she  must  bring  up  each 
pupil  in  her  class  to  a  theoretical  standard  of  achievements,  but,  as  we  have 
seen  in  actual  practice,  the  variability  in  most  classes  Is  marked.  At  this 
point  both  teacher  and  principal  need  to  know  what  constitutes  normal  vari- 
ability. The  following  scale  is  suggested  as  consistent  with  such  expert  ad- 
vice as  we  can  secure  at  the  present  time.  Arranging  our  pupils  on  a  scale 
ranging  from  Very  Poor  to  Excellent,  we  may  safely  assume  the  relative  value 
of  each  group  to  be  about  as  follows,  the  figures  representing  the  percentage 
of  the  entire  class  to  be  found  in  each  group: 

Very  Poor  Pair  Average  Superior  Excellent 

5%  15%  60%  15%  5% 

This  means  that  in  a  class  of  40  children  the  normal  distribution  would  be 
as  follows: 

Very  Poor  Pair  Average  Superior  Excellent 

2  S  24  6  2 

By  combining  our  Very  Poor  and  Pair  children  in  one  group,,  our  Superior 
or  Excellent  in  another  group,  and  the  Average  pupils  in  a  third  group,  we 
would  approximate  the  grouping  suggested  in  the  preceding  paper.  Such  a 
procedure  consistently  followed  for  several  terms  should  greatly  reduce  varia- 
bility and   consequent  overlapping. 

The  scale  adopted  for  checking  the  normal  amount  of  variability  serves 
fhe  principal  in  checking  his  promotions.     Any  teacher  who  fails  more  than 

16 


20%  of  her  class  is  open  to  grave  suspicion,  and  in  most  classes  the  amount 
of  non-promotion  will  not  exceed  10%.  The  Excellent  and  Superior  pupils 
need  not  wait  for  promotion  time  to  attain  advanced  standing,  but  should  be 
allowed  to  advance  to  the  class  above  nt  any  time  diirins:;  the  srliool  year  when 
♦  heir  needs  seem  to  warrant  it. 

Lastly,  every  child  from  the  fourth  grade  on,  should  be  made  an  object  of 
special  study  by  the  principal  w'^h  respect  to  oral  reading.  If  a  pupil  in  the 
,pper  grades  is  a  poor  reader  it  seems  almost  imperative  that  he  drop  all 
other  subjects  for  a  time  until  hir;  case  is  remedied.  One  of  our  recent  edu- 
cational writers  sums  this  necessity  up  in  these  words: 

^"Reading  is  the  most  important  of  all  school  subjects.  It  is  the  key  that 
unlocks  the  door  to  all  other  learning.  In  every  land  it  is  the  dividing  line 
between  gross  ignorance  and  intelligence.  It  opens  the  way  into  the  treasure 
house  of  literature,  and  brings  one  into  contact  with  the  thoughts  and  deedsi 
of  the  whole  world,  present  and  past.  One  of  the  greatest  contributions  the. 
s'^hool  can  offer  to  the  child   is  to  make  him  a  good  reader." 

''ieorge  Herbert  P.etts      "Classroom  Method  and  Management. 


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